Tuesday, September 10, 2013

My 1st comic show purchase...

My recent trip to the 2013 edition of the HeroesCon in Charlotte got me thinking abut the 1st comic show I ever attended. It was held in Raleigh, NC at the Fairgrounds. I must have been in about the 9th grade. That dates this purchase to about 1982 or 1983.

This book was my 1st major comic purchase. To a kid that didn't couldn't drive and didn't have a job - it represented A LOT of saving!

I remember paying SIXTY BUCKS for this book. It was a full TEN Dollars over guide. It was the 1st and only time I ever paid above guide for a book.

Oh but this thing is GORGEOUS. Nice tight spine, no breaks. Solid, bright colors, no discoloration. In the older books as you may recall they had tiny little perforated holes at the bottom of the page in the margin. I think this is a result of the printing process used at the time. These perforations were stuck together. They still are. This book had NEVER been read.

1st New X-Men in the series

The ONLY 2 flaws this book has is in the top corners. The spine corner has a tiny tiny little split with a hint of discoloration to give it away. Again this had to happen in the printing. There has been NO mishandling of this book. The other corner has started to fold, NOT a hard crease mind you, but rather from being compressed in the bag against other books. Very minimal flaws.

Nothing is ever completely perfect. Only varying degrees of less perfect. There are probably better copies of this book out there - but you will look a looong time to find its equal, much less its better.

I purchased this book from Shelton Drum. He owns "Heroes Arent' Hard to Find and puts on the Annual HeroesCon.

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n addition to his store and his major convention in the Southeast - he also sets up and supports by participating in a number of shows in the state. 

I happened to catch him at one and mentioned the X-men book from youth. He was like "Oh yeah, You're the one that bought that? I remember that book... wanna sell it? I'll give you a full refund"
It was a pleasant conversation and with the many thousands of  comics that surely must pass thru his hands, it was nice that he said it.

I may not always buy from him, but I will always visit his table.



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